Thursday, December 27, 2007

Charlie Weis from Notre Dame to Dolphins?

So there's this Romeo Crennel-to-Miami rumor, presumably because Bill Parcells is running the Dolphins and Crennel is a protege of Tuna's. But let me throw out my own twist on this decent theory that Parcells would tap a protege:

What if Parcells instead pursued... Charlie Weis? Everyone can see that Weis is an iffy fit as a college coach, but as a PRO head coach -- hell, isn't that what he wanted before he got to Notre Dame? Let's steal the signs why Weis is the ideal fit:

Weis is a Parcells protege. He is the perfect guy to revive a sorry NFL offense; tutor the Dolphins' franchise QB (whether it's John Beck or whoever the Dolphins could draft in April); and -- most important -- escape a sinkhole situation in South Bend that turned ugly in 2007.

Heading into his fourth year as Notre Dame head coach, Weis hasn't accomplished what he set out to do -- restore the program to its former glory. Actually, he just produced the single most humiliating season in program history. It's not crazy for him to say: "I want out." (Fans certainly don't begrudge the honest Notre Dame fan who is willing to say "See ya.")

If Weis returns to the pros, both he and Notre Dame get a terrific "out" -- "hey, it's the NFL... it's Parcells... how could he say no?" Weis gets to be the NFL head coach he always wanted to be, under a mentor who provides ultimate protection; Notre Dame gets to back out of a coaching move they may have learned to regret -- and to re-set with a real college coach and a cupboard stocked with young talent.

I think it's just so crazy that it just might work. I should clarify: This is total speculation on my part. You know me: I don't "do" original reporting. But I do enjoy a good theory. (h/t: Pro Football Talk, for the original break about Crennel and Parcells; total inspiration)

UPDATE: See the most recent comment I approved. The guy has a point, of course. If Weis and Parcells hate each other, that's a deal-breaker. Then again, Crennel was a Belichick guy, too. So I presume that "working for Belichick" can't be a deal-breaker. All other reasons this make sense still apply, particularly the "easy out" for both Weis and ND to end the ill-fated relationship.

5 comments:

Um..W.eis and Parcells didn't exactly split on speaking terms. Weis sided with Belichick against Parcells. In fact he testified for BB and effectively against Parcells in the NFL hearing on BB's contract in 2000.So other than them not liking each other and parting their working relationship with a lot of animosity, I suppose your theory is perfectly viable.

UGA Auburn this year. We are tailgaiting next to a very influential Irish booster (think Dump Devine), who is there with a friend of his. He's on the the phone for 4 hours straight arguing with several individuals.

He finally gets off the phone & we ask him what's up. He says that he has been on the phone with several prominent LA boosters, and they have cobbled together $30 million to buy CCW out of his contract. He is in their camp on dumping CCW, but doesn't want to fork over the $30M. Says it would set a bad precedent.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.